China Chamber of Commerce to the EU calls for more cooperation

A report from the China Chamber of Commerce to the European Union stresses the value of the rapid expansion of economic and trade activities of Chinese enterprises in Europe in recent years. The report also calls for a better business environment to be built to foster their growth.

The "Chinese Enterprises' Development in Europe" report is the first report released by the China Chamber of Commerce to the European Union, and was jointly published by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants.

Zhou Lihong is the head of the chamber. She said that Chinese enterprises are working hard to create business opportunities in the European Union.

"Chinese enterprises are confident about the market in European Union, which contains around 500 million people. They also praise the professionalism and high quality of their E.U. business partners. As two major civilizations and big markets, China and Europe have a lot of potential for cooperation," said Zhou Lihong.

She added that the incoming President of the European Commission, Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen, emphasizes that multilateralism is in Europe's genes, which is reassuring for Chinese enterprises that are growing in Europe.

"I am very impressed by Europe's commitment to leading the transformation to a healthy planet and the digital world. I would like to represent our chamber in expressing appreciation for the political wisdom of the new leader. We will participate in the transformation process through mutually beneficial business activities."

The chamber has more than 50 member units from sectors including finance, energy, transportation, and communications. Together they represent more than 90 Chinese companies operating in the European Union.

The report says in the past 5 years, European companies have earned net profits of more than 100 billion euros in China, while Chinese companies have only taken in around 22 billion euros in Europe.

Wang Xin is a global partner of Roland Berger. He said their data shows that the globalization of Chinese and European companies will benefit both sides, and the global economy more broadly.

He also spoke about how reducing quantity and improving quality is a major feature of the investment of Chinese companies in the European Union.

"The specific methods and direction of Chinese investment have been improved. In the past, most of the investments were simple mergers and acquisitions. But now they carry out projects, including research and development, according to the different businesses. It is more direct and down to earth. They are more engaged in the European market," said Wang Xin.

The China Chamber of Commerce to the European Union was founded in Brussels in August last year.

It aims to further promote China's economic and trade activities with the European Union, deepen the E.U.'s policy analysis, and to build a better business environment for Chinese companies in Europe.